Removable bottle-stopper



(No Modei.)

J. TERRY REMOVABLE BOTTLE STOPPER.

No. 320,191. Patented June 16, 1886.

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NrrEn rates ATENT tries.

JAMES TERRY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

REMOVABLE BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,191, dated June 16, 1885.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1,.Lmrns TERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Removable Bottle-Stoppers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in bottlestoppers of the class which act upon the inside of the bottle and have a contractile valve-washer for the purpose of removing the stopper from the bottle when desired.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of my bottlestopper. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a seetional view of the same, partly in elevation, together with a side elevation of the instru ment for contracting the valve-washer.

Prior to my invention bottle-stoppers of the same class have been made-that is to say, they were provided with a cup-shaped head attached to a wire stem, upon which head rested a contractile valve-washer of larger diameter than the head, and above said valvewasher was a sliding loop, which extended up through the mouth of the bottle and had a round foot of less diameter than the diameter of the head. By moving the slide to press its round foot upon the top of the washer the washer was depressed into the cup-shaped head to contract it into a smaller diameter, so that the stopper could be withdrawn readily from the bottle. Such a bottle-stopper is hereby diselaimed.

A designates the head of my bottlestopper, the same having a cup-shaped recess in its upper side and a cone-shaped hub, a, at its lower end, as shown in Fig. 3. This cupshaped head is attached to a wire loop, Z), which loop and head are united by casting the head upon one end of the wire,while the short free end of the wire loop extends downward by the side of its body to a point near the head, and serves as a stop, 0, Fig. 1, to limit the upward movement of the solid disk (I, which rests upon the upper side of the valve-washer f. This loop is made of spring-wire, and its form is immaterial, providing its free end is brought down into position to act as a stop, a, as shown. The head A is so set upon the end of the loop Z) that it rises up out of the head in a central position. The valve-washer f and solid disk (1 are perforated centrally, and are placed upon the loop I) by springing out the free end of the wire far enough to slip the valve-washer and disk thereon. after which they are carried upward around the curve of the loop and then downward into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It will readily be seen that this stopper may be inserted within the mouth of the bottle for use therein in the ordinary manner of bottle-stoppers which act upon the inside of the bottle.

In order to contract the valve-washer f into a smaller diameter for removing the stopper, I provide the instrument shown in Fig. 3. This consists, essentially, of a slotted shaft, B, of a form which will extend down through the neck of the bottle, said bottle-neck being indicated by broken lines in Fig. 3. The slot in the shaft Bis wide enough and long enough. to receive the wire loop b, as shown. Upon the body of the shaft B is a sliding tube, 0, provided with a pair ofhooks, g, for catching upon the bow of the loop I), as shown in Fig. 3. This tube 0 is also capable of rotating slightly upon the shaft B for the purpose of bringing its hooks 9 into engagement with the loop I). Thistube is also provided with a handle, D, for sliding it longitudinally upon the shaft B. I have also represented the upper end of the shaft B as provided with a handle, E, for convenience of operating the instrument. The spring It has a tendency to keep the tube 0 pressed downward, with its lower end resting upon the shoulder of the shaft B,which shoulder is just below the line a: a: in Fig. 3. This instrument is placed over the loop with the end of its split shaft resting upon the upper surface of the solid disk (I. The tube Gis then pulled upward relatively to the shaft into the position shown in Fig. 3, thereby forcing said disk (I and the valve-washer under it down into the mouth of the cup-shaped head A, so as to contract the diameter of the valve-washer sufficiently to enable the stopper to be removed from the bottle, all as shown in said Fig. 3.

I have herein illustrated the instrument for removing the stopper, in order to better show the operation of the stopper itself but said instrument forms no part of the subject1natter herein claimed; but I intend to make it the subject of a separate application. It is also evident that any suitable instrument adapted to reach into the neck of the bottle and operate my stopper for removal may be substituted for the instrument herein shown.

By the employment of a suitable instrument adapted to extend through the neck of the bottle I am enabled to make one instrument which will act successively in combination with the contractile valve-Washer of many of my bottlestoppers, and thereby save the expense and inconvenience of making a long slide which extends through the neck of the bottle a necessary and permanent part of the bottle'stopper, as is done in the only prior bottle-stopper known to me which has a contractile valve- Washer.

By making the loop of spring-wire, with the free end bent down for a stop, the stopper is 2o cheaply formed, and the valve-Washer, when worn, can readily be removed and a new one substituted therefor.

I claim as my invention 1. The herein-described bottle-stopper,cousisting, essentially, of the wire loop, the head 25 A, secured thereto and havingthe cup-shaped recess, the valve-washer f, and the solid disk (I, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

2. In an internal bottle-stopper,the combina- 30 tion of the solid sliding disk d with the wire loop having its short free end a bent downward by the side of its body to serve as a stop to limit the sliding motion of said disk, substantially as described.

' JAMES TERRY.

WVitnesses:

EDDY N. SMITH, J AMES SHEPARD. 

